A Hikikomori Went Shopping
by Bri Nara
Summary: Kiku is a shut-in who was forced to go outside once. Alfred is his neighbor who didn't know he existed before then. So Alfred tries to get Kiku outside more. Human AU


**United States of Hetalia Productions  
**

_I thought of this after complaining about 'being dragged out into the sunlight' for an hour. I don't own Hetalia._

_Gosh, this one-shot took, like, a month and it sucks. Sucked the life out of me...  
_

* * *

Kiku stared at the half-empty pantry in despair.

He was out of instant ramen.

"No no no no no..."

Kiku looked around his house. It was as tidy as it had always been for the past 2 years, despite it having an owner who never left. Not a thing was out of place.

Which meant that he really was out of ramen.

Kiku sighed as he approached the phone. He would just call Lars like he usually did whenever he ran out of food. He never really liked the idea of bothering the Dutch man to buy his groceries, but it was necessary.

Otherwise he would have to go... o-outside.

Kiku anxiously waited for Lars to pick up the phone.

"Oh, Lars-san, I hate to be a bother, but I've run out of-" The Japanese man's eyes widened as he heard the answer machine's voice. "Lars-san! Lars-san, you have to-!" He sighed in frustration as he hung up.

It looked like he had no other choice.

He was going to have to go outside himself.

He inched close to the front door with shaky steps. He opened the door a crack and peeked out. He sighed in relief when he noticed the sky was cloudy and had no sunshine to blind him.

He searched around his house for several minutes to find his wallet and rediscover where he kept the shoes. Soon he was walking toward the grocery store a few blocks away from his home.

Kiku kept his head bowed and tried to force down his anxiety. He was still in the kimono he wore around the house, his straight black hair was still ruffled. In his panic of going outside distracted him from properly making himself presentable. However, he didn't turn back in fear that he would back out of his mission of retrieving ramen.

So he didn't notice the American next door staring at him.

"Holy crap, I thought that house was abandoned..." he said to himself.

He examined his newly discovered neighbor. Pale skin, slim figure, never came outside in the three months that the American had lived next to him.

A shut-in.

Later...

Kiku smiled at the now full pantry.

Now that his food supply was restocked, he wouldn't have to go outside for a while-

_Ding dong._

Kiku raised an eyebrow.

Guests? Since when did _he _have guests?

Kiku opened the door to a bright stream of sunlight and an equally bright smile.

"Hiya, pale shut-in dude!" the blonde in the doorway said loudly.

Kiku shielded his eyes. "Um...hello?"

The other casually strolled into Kiku's house. "So this is what the inside looks like... The name's Alfred Jones. I'm not sure if you noticed, but I'm your neighbor."

Kiku shut the door so that more sunlight couldn't come in. "You are?"

Alfred nodded. "Yeah! Though I'm not sure you'd notice seeing that...uh..." Alfred looked around the overly-organized house. "You don't get out much do you?"

Kiku looked at the ground as his face started turning red.

"Hey, there's nothing to be embarrassed about," Alfred said hurriedly. "It's not like you _never_ leave the house or anything."

Kiku's face turned even redder.

Alfred's eyes widened. "You mean you don't? We better get you outside then!" He grabbed Kiku's wrist and headed toward the door.

"No! Wait!" Kiku said quickly. "I-I mean, I just went out a while ago so I don't need to... Alfred-san, I really appreciate your concern but _please _remove your hand from the doorknob!"

The American opened the door and sunlight washed over the pale man. Kiku immediately slipped out of Alfred's grasp, ran to his room, and curled up underneath his quilt.

Alfred raised an eyebrow. "Well, this is going to take a while."

The next day...

"Kikuuuuu!"

The hikikomori stayed under his quilt and tried to ignore his neighbor at the front door.

Maybe if he stayed quiet enough, he'd go away-

_CRASH._

Kiku froze as he heard footsteps in his house. He jumped as the door to his room was thrown open.

"Dude, you thought you could trick me into thinking you were out? You said so yourself, you never leave."

The smaller man got his feet with the quilt still wrapped around him. "Um... what did you want, Alfred-san?" he said. 'What did you want so desperately that you'd break into my home for?' he couldn't bring himself to say.

"I wanna get you out of here!" he said with a smile.

Kiku's grip on the edge of the quilt tightened. "But... why? I mean, we just met yesterday..."

Alfred tilted his head. He thought it was a silly question. "Because! You're like one of those fairytale chicks locked up in a tower." He didn't notice the uncomfortable look on the other's face at being compared to a damsel in distress. "And I'm the hero who gets to bust you out! So come on!"

He grabbed onto Kiku's waist and pulled him over his shoulder.

"Wait! Alfred-san! Please! Put me down!" Kiku cried out.

"Nope! Not until you see the light. The sunlight, that is."

They were out on the front lawn, with summer heat beating down on them. Bright sunlight, fresh air, confused neighbors staring at them.

"See, Kiku? Isn't this a lot better than being cooped up inside?" When he didn't get an answer, he put the man on the ground. "Kiku?"

Kiku sank to his knees and continued looking up at the sky he hadn't dared see in years.

"Great. I broke him. We'll try again tomorrow."

And so, Alfred dragged Kiku outside everyday in an attempt to 'get him want to get out of there'.

All because a hikikomori went shopping.

**(Tosses papers in the air) Finally done with this half-assed one-shot!**

**Anyways, review, please.  
**


End file.
